


Flowers shall be the death of me

by orphan_account



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Pompous Pep, Self-Harm, Suicide Notes, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:45:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4159191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone was stealing Vlad's flowers.<br/>However, he was not interested in catching the thief per se, he wanted to know who recieved the flowers.<br/>He got the thief, but before he could find out the recipient, the thief vanished again. But Vlad did not expect the thief to come back. ( Vlad is 25 & Danny is 16)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowers shall be the death of me

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I posted...  
> It got way darker than I expected...

Vlad had noticed the missing flowers about a week ago. You see, he was kind of proud of all the vibrant coloured flowers that were blooming in his garden.  
So, the missing ones really bugged him.  
He really wanted to know who would steal flowers.  
But he especially wanted to know why someone would steal flowers.  
Since he had nothing better to do than to watch his garden (no, he wasn't a retiree with nothing better to do than watching his garden, he was on sick leave because of an accident at work).  
Thus, Vlad positioned himself in his living room, where he had a good view inside his garden.  
And he waited.  
One day.  
Two days.  
Three days.  
After a whole week had passed, Vlad thought of blowing the whole thing off and just leaving that flower thief alone.  
At least he tought about that until he saw a boy, looking somewhat close to sixteen, sneaking into his garden, examining the flowers.  
That boy didn't even notice Vlad approaching him.  
Vlad cleared his throat right behind the boy, who immediatly turned around, an extremly guilty look on his face, holding a bunch of hydrangea.  
„Stealing them for a girl?“, Vlad asked, with a raised eyebrow.  
It was the first conclusion he jumped to, seeing how old his flower thief was and considering the meaning of the flower the boy was holding.  
The young thief, lacking a better explanation, just furiously nodded, too afraid to acutally say anything.  
Vlad sighed, and took a closer look at this little thief.  
„What is your name, boy?“  
The thief swallowed, hard, then hesitated, but then mumbled his name. Much to Vlad's annoyance it was completly inaudible.  
„I did not understand you, boy. Please repeat it.“ Vlad's voice sounded as annoyed and angry as he was. This caused the thief not to dare hesitate telling Vlad his name again.  
„Daniel, sir.“, the boy quickly said, looking terrified, mostly because Vlad was at least a head taller than he was and the man was practically towering over him.  
„Well, Daniel, since you caught me in a good mood...“  
A statement Danny couldn't believe, because the older man looked angry as fuck.  
And, of course, that statement wasn't really true. Vlad wasn't in a good mood. He just spend a week waiting for some stupid kid to come by and steal his flowers. But the boy before him was just too cute to punish. „...I'm not going to punish you.“  
Danny let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding since Vlad made himself knowable.  
„However,“, and a grin spread across Vlad's face as he said that, „. I do want to see if the person you are giving my flowers to is worth of them.“  
The boy went pale at those words.  
His nod at the man's first question had been instinctive, not wanting to be hurt because he answered a question wrong.  
It was a really shitty situation.  
But, having on other choice, Danny started walking towards the gate by which he entered.  
He really didn't want to know what that man would do to him when he found out that Danny lied to him.  
Before Danny could walk out of the garden, Vlad stopped him. „Wait, you can't give your person only these! Take some of the cornflowers too.“  
Danny was utterly confused. First, the man seemed angry at Danny taking his flowers and now he wanted to give him even more flowers? But Danny wouldn't ask why he did that, as he didn't want to accidentally anger that strange man (even more? Danny wasn't sure if he was still angry with Danny...).  
„Here.“, Vlad handed Danny the cornflowers and gestured for the boy to walk ahead and lead the way.  
It was still a long way from Vlad's house to Danny's destination.  
Danny had seen Vlad's garden while he walked home one day and noticed the really nice looking flowers (they looked nicer than the flowers from the florist and stealing them was considersably cheaper than buying flowers).  
The boy hoped that he could convince that man not to follow through with his plan.  
But, considering how determined that guy looked, Danny had little hope to get rid of him.  
So, Danny walked ahead, the man following close behind him.  
Vlad looked at Daniel with curiosity.  
Why would he steal flowers rather than just buy them at the florist's shop?  
He caught up with the boy, walking side by side with him.  
„So, first off, little badger, you better hold the flowers upside down, to prevent damage.“  
Danny shot him an annoyed look, but started holding the flowers upside down.  
„Secondly, tell me a bit about yourself, I want to get to know the boy who dared to steal my flowers.“  
Danny gave the man a puzzled look, not sure what to make of the man's interest in him.  
Vlad looked at Danny, too, but not so much puzzeled, more genuinely interested. Danny continued looking at him, eventually coming to a stop, still staring at this strange man, whose flowers he had stolen the past weeks.  
Vlad stopped walking too. He sighed and told Danny: „Fine, if you want to know something about me first, my name is Vlad, I am twenty-five years old and currently working as a scientist, although I am on sick leave at the moment.“  
Danny started talking as he continued walking.  
„As you already know, my name is Daniel, but I prefer being called Danny, I am currently sixteen and, of course, I am still going to high school.“  
After Danny finished, the silence between to two continued.  
Vlad sighed internally, his attempt at starting a conversation had failed.  
„And your family? Any siblings? I'm an only child...“; Vlad tried again. Danny looked at him again, but didn't need any further nudges to answer.  
„I have a sister. Older.“  
Danny seemed to have little interest in having a conversation with Vlad, although Vlad could understand the boy's disinterest, he really wanted to know more about him.  
So, there was really no other option than to keep prodding at the boy, until he opened up.  
„And your parents?“, Vlad asked.  
Danny flinched at this question, but Vlad didn't notice, momentarily looking at the way ahead of them.  
When Vlad looked at Danny again, the boy just shook his head lightly.  
Vlad nodded, understanding.  
They continued walking in silence for the next twenty minutes or so, until Vlad decided to start another attempt at talking to Danny.  
„Well, Daniel, do you really think this person is worth stealing flowers for?“  
Danny once again looked at Vlad, shortly, before answering.  
„Yes, I believe they are.“, the boy lacked any kind of passion in his voice, that one would have expected from a sixteen year old teenager bringing flowers to their beloved.  
Vlad noticed that, but thought it was because he was accompanying the boy.  
„How long have you been in love with that person?“, Vlad wanted to know.  
Danny just shrugged.  
The older man accepted that as an answer with a quiet sigh.  
After that, they just walked in silence.

As they were approaching the final turn before Danny's destionation, a panic that had been growing inside the boy the whole way threathened to overthrow him.  
When they would turn around that corner, Vlad would see-  
A phone went off.  
Vlad excused himself, fumbled his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.  
Danny watched with curiosity, as Vlad only seemed to listen to what was being said.  
However, when Vlad turned around, looking away from Danny, the boy saw his chance and took a run for it.

As Vlad turned around, having finished the call, Danny was gone. Vlad sighed.  
He was well aware that he would never see the boy again. But he really wanted to find out who recieved the flowers.  
However, Vlad really didn't want to search for the boy. He probably wouldn't find him anyways.  
So he just started walking towards his house again.

 

A week after Vlad met the peculiar boy who stole his heart flowers, Vlad sat on his couch, reading the Simarillion, the last Lord of the Rings-Book he had to read.  
He almost wouldn't have noticed that raven haired boy sneaking around in his garden, looking at his flowers.  
Vlad sighed and put his book down. He slowly stood up and silently approached Danny, who was only paying attention to Vlad's flowers, clearly not expecting Vlad to be here.  
Vlad picked up an almost violently blue shining cornflower on the way to Danny and held it in front of his face.  
Danny needed a moment to process exactly why there suddenly was a flower almost touching his face. He noticed the hand holding the flower and followed the arm the hand was attached to with his eyes, until he looked into Vlad's eyes.  
Danny let out a quiet, „Fuck.“, as Vlad shook his head. Danny couldn't tell if the man was disappointed or amused by him standing in his garden again.  
Vlad then started to walk around his garden, picking up flowers, while Danny stared at him.  
Without looking at Danny, Vlad started talking.  
„You know, Daniel, I did not expect to see you again, after you disappeared rather suddenly last week.“  
Vlad stopped for a moment, taking a look at Danny, who still stood where Vlad had held the flower out to him.  
The boy didn't seem like he wanted to talk, staring awkwardly at the ground, hands in his pockets, so Vlad just continued.  
„You still need to show me the person those flowers are for.“  
Another look at Daniel.  
„I did believe that you would come back to get flowers, but just not at the exactly same time and day as last time.“  
Going by the intensity of Danny's glare, the ground should have a hole by now.  
Meanwhile, Vlad finished the bouquet that he had been putting together. He walked towards Danny and held the nice, rainbow-coloured bouqet out to him.  
„You can have these, if you show me who is getting them.“  
Danny eyed Vlad, considering the offer.  
I could lead him to Sam, Danny thought, but he would probably notice that the route would be different than last time.  
„Daniel, take the flowers or I'm overthinking my decision not to punish you for stealing my flowers.“  
Being suddenly robbed of good options, Danny decided to take to flowers from the older man.  
He really did not want to know what Vlad was capable of.  
So they both started to walk.  
Vlad glanced at Danny, who seemed a little grumpier than last week.  
„Everything alright, little badger?“  
Danny shot the older man an annoyed look.  
Yes, everything is perfectly fine, expect there is some weird dude following me in exchange for flowers, Danny thought to himself, but only muttered a „Yeah“ towards his unwanted companion.  
„I do not believe you, Daniel.“, Vlad was starting to worry about this boy.  
He remembered his own high school-time, being bullied and everything. He wondered if Danny had to go through the same shit?  
Danny turned his gaze away instead of responding to Vlad.  
Which made Vlad worry even more.  
He decided that finding out who exactly got his flowers wasn't as important as talking to and eventually helping Danny.  
They kept walking in silence, because Danny didn't want to talk and Vlad was already working on a more detailed plan to get the boy to talk to him.  
When they approached a park bench Danny had the intention to keep on walking, because he really wanted to get over with it and get rid of Vlad.  
However, Vlad stopped the boy.  
„Daniel, let's sit down for a moment.“, Vlad suggested, still wanting to talk to the boy.  
„Getting old?“, Danny asked with a smirk, the first answer he got was an annoyed glance from Vlad, followed by „I'm only twenty-five, boy.“.  
Danny sat down next to Vlad.  
Vlad might have been a bit annoyed at Danny's comment, but he was mostly glad that the boy chose to speak with him, without Vlad having to nudge him into it.  
„Daniel,“, Vlad started, still unsure how to have a conversation like this, „I know this is the second time we've met, but I'm a bit worried about you...“ Vlad made a break and glimpsed at Danny, who seemingly ignored him by looking at the flowers in his hands.  
Vlad continued, „If you want to talk, I'll listen, Daniel. I won't hurt you, despite threatening to punish you for taking my flowers. But I never intended to follow through with it. You could just leave.“  
Vlad glanced again at Danny, now the worry was clear on Vlad's face.  
The boy kept looking at the flowers.  
So, the older one sighed, preparing to continue his monologue, as Danny started to talk  
„I could just leave now without consequence?“, the boy asked and turned towards Vlad with a look completly void of emotion.  
Vlad nodded, but as Danny started to get up, he grabbed the boy by his wrist .  
„But, please, before you leave, little badger, listen to me, okay?“  
Danny relucantly sat down next to Vlad again. The man gave Danny a light smile.  
„Why do you call me that?“, Danny asked, staring right ahead, instead of looking at Vlad.  
„Call you what?“, Vlad wanted to know in return, not sure if Danny meant that he kept calling the teenager 'Daniel', despite his wish to be called 'Danny' or if he meant the nickname he had given him.  
„Little Badger. Why?“, Danny clarified.  
Vlad smiled at the boy again.  
„You remind me of a hony badger.“, Vlad answered.  
„And you remind me of a fruit loop. Should I call you that?“, Danny retorted.  
„Sure, whatever floats your boat, little badger.“, Vlad answered with a chuckle.  
After that, Danny was silent again.  
The older man sighed and continued talking.  
„You know, I went through high school too. I always was an outcast, interested in science and all that. I was bullied almost constantly. I did some things I am not proud of.“, as Vlad said that, he nudged Danny's arm, to which the boy responded with immediatly pulling it away.  
Danny wore a sweatshirt, covering his arms, altough it was way to warm to wear something like a sweatshirt.  
Danny's reaction confirmed Vlad's suspicion.  
The boy was still avoiding looking at Vlad, now looking at his arms instead.  
„But, eventually, I got out of high school, away from it. I survived. You can too. We've only known each other for an incredibly short amount of time, but I believe in you. I can help you, you know. If you want to talk, you're free to come to my place, since you know where it is.“, Vlad gave Danny a faint smile, but the boy was still staring at his arms.  
Vlad sighed heavily.  
„Danny, if you need time to think, you are free to go now.“  
As soon as Danny heard that, he was up and walking away at a speed that was closer to running than walking.  
Vlad couldn't see the tears running down Danny's cheeks, the testament of how deeply he had affected that boy truly with his words.  
But, he did notice that Danny took the flowers with him, though he didn't believe that Danny would visit whoever the flowers were intended for now.  
As Danny disappeared from Vlad's field of vision, the man got up and walked back home, fighting back tears, because that boy had strangely grown onto him and seeing him like Vlad had been back in high school was terrible.  
He really wanted to help that boy.  
If Danny chose to ever show his face again.

 

Vlad's week was fairly dull. He caught up on Game of Thrones and finally got a perfect score in that stupid beat'em up he had been playing for the last two days.  
It was wednesday again. The last two weeks Danny had appeared in his garden on wednesdays.  
However, Vlad didn't think Danny would come this time, after that monologue last week.  
But, deep inside of him, Vlad still hoped that Danny would come, because he really liked that boy.  
At the moment, Vlad was doing nothing but laying on his couch, staring absentmindedly into his garden. Most of his flowers were still blooming nicely, but that would probably be over soon.  
He had started to keep some of his flowers in a vase on the table in his living room. Today there were cornflowers.  
I won't give up on that little badger, Vlad thought, looking at the bright blue flowers.  
These flowers reminded him of Danny's brilliantly blue eyes. The man was so zoned out that he didn't even notice the knocking on his patio door at first.  
Vlad tried to get up quickly, but failed and fell right off of his couch. He held onto it as he dragged himself up.  
When Vlad saw Danny standing outside, he hurried to let the boy inside.  
„Daniel.“, Vlad said, surprised that Danny had appeared in his garden like the last two weeks.  
„Vlad... do you think... we could talk?“, Danny fumbled with his hands, lookin gat the ground instead of Vlad, as he asked that.  
„Of course, little badger, of course we can talk.“  
Danny still seemed to avoid looking at Vlad, exactly like the last time they talked.  
„Daniel, please, sit down.“, Vlad said, gesturing towards the couch in the middle of the room. Danny hesitated, but sat down after a few moments. He looked awkwardly around the room, but still avoided looking at Vlad.  
„Do you want something to drink?“, Vlad asked the obviously uncomfortable Danny. But the boy just shook his head softly.  
Vlad sat down, too, not too close to Danny, but close enough to be able to reach out and touch, comfort, Danny if he needed to.  
Some people got comforted by physical contact, some didn't and Vlad did not know which group Danny belonged to.  
They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Danny slowly inhaled and exhaled, preparing to talk.  
„It began when my parents died.“, Danny swallowed hard, still not even glancing at Vlad, who just silently watched Danny.  
The boy was still fumbling with his hands and occasionally running them through his hair.  
„They died because of an accident, and now my sister and I are completly alone. We were entirely alone.“  
Danny paused for a moment, trying to look up, look at Vlad, but failing and ending up glancing at the man's chest.  
Vlad had a very nice chest, though.  
„And after that everything went bad. I feel... alone?“ Danny's voice started to tremble, he was still not looking at the man he was talking to, now burying his face in his hands.  
Danny's voice was still trembling as he continued talking.  
„I feel... hollow? ...lost? And everything just... turned to... shit.“ The boy's voice just got quieter and quieter, until the last words he uttered were barely audible. His body began to quiver, but it wasn't until Vlad heard gentle sobs that he realised that Danny was crying.  
Vlad closed the distance between Danny and him and embraced the younger boy and held him close. Danny didn't stop sobbing, but he didn't pull away either. Vlad slowly started to stroke Danny's bakc to clam the boy down.  
„Shhh... it's okay, I'm here.“, Vlad whispered into Danny's ear, but there was no sign that the boy would calm down soon.  
Eventually, Danny calmed down enough to askVlad a question.  
„Will.. this emptiness... ever go away?“  
Vlad thought about the time his parents died. He had never felt much for them. He just inherited a shitload of money from them.  
Vlad's own emptiness... had it ever gone away?  
Since the death of his lab partners, the so familiar feeling of emptiness had steadily come back.  
Vlad hadn't even noticed that. But Danny's question made him think.  
Had the emptiness ever gone away?  
Admittedly, since Danny had appeared, the emptiness had been slowly replaced with feelings again.  
And, at the moment he was really fucking worried about that boy. There was, somewhere, a kind of warm feeling, too, but Vlad would worry about that later.  
He needed to encourage Danny, though, so he didn't do anything stupid to get rid of this empty, hollwo feeling.  
„Yes, little, Badger, it will go away.“  
Danny started to return the hug, his arms around Vlad's neck, face buried in the man's chest.  
They sat quite some time like this, Danny quietly crying , Vlad comforting him.  
And, Vlad wouldn't admit it, there were tears rolling down his face too.  
Until, finally, Danny slowly stopped crying and let go of Vlad.  
This time, he managed to look into Vlad's face, the first time since he got into Vlads house. Danny wiped his tears away with his sleeves and smiled weakly at Vlad.  
„Will you help me pick flowers? I think I still need to show you who is receiving them.“, Danny trailed of off his sentence, his eyes losing focus, staring off into the distance.  
„Of course, little badger.“, Vlad responded, taking Danny by his hand and pulling him into the garden.

„What do you want to say with the flowers?“,Vlad wanted to know. Danny glanced at him, curious.  
„Ahem... I won't forget you? Maybe?“, Danny answered, walking towards some pink carnations.  
Vlad chuckled. „These would be the wrong flowers to say that.“  
The older man walked over to Danny and stood next to him.  
„Carnations, in this color, mean strong passion.“, Vlad explained to Danny.  
„Sadly, I dont have any flowers with that particular meaning... You could use the forget-me-nots, but they mean that the other person shouldn't forget about you...“  
Vlad started to wander around his garden, examining the flowers. In the end, he gave the boy a mainly blue bouquet, with a few touches of white in it.  
Danny took the flowers without a word and started walking.

They walked in silence, until Vlad noticed Danny taking a deep breath just before a corner.  
Vlad eyed him. „Almost there?“, the man asked.  
Danny nodded and turned around the corner.  
The house at the corner was the last one in this street.  
Danny just completly ignored it and kept walking towards the end of the street.  
Vlad took a look at the end of the street, more specifically, what was at the end of the street.  
„My flowers aren't for a living person, are they, Daniel?“  
Danny just shook his head.  
They were walking towards the city's cementery.  
Danny quietly led the way through the cementery, passing headstone after headstone.  
„Your parents?“Vlad quietly asked, while they kept walking towards the back of the cementery.  
A quick nod answered the question.  
Vlad froze when he read the names on the headstone Danny stopped infront of. He didn't move a single muscle as Danny laid the flowers on the grave.  
He just read the names over and over again.  
There was no doubt. The date fit. The names fit.  
Danny's parent, Danny's dead parents were his lab partners that died.  
A wave of guilt hit Vlad. He was the reason that Danny's parents were dead. The accident had been his fault. His fault alone.  
He couldn't keep meeting Danny.  
Because of him, Danny felt this way.  
Empty. Hollow.  
And- Vlad didn't even want to keep thinking, thinking about what damage the death of his parents had done to Danny, damage that Vlad was responsible for.  
Vlad stumbled away from the grave, tears streaming down his face.  
„Fruitloop? Everything okay?“, Danny asked the clearly distraught man.  
Vlad shook his head, „No...“, he buried his face in his hands. „Sorry, Daniel, I have to go.“  
The older man turned around and quickly walked away, almost fleeing from the grave.

Once Vlad was inside his home, he started trashing everything that was within his reach, eventually leading to the cornflowers, that so much resembled Danny's eyes, being knocked over.  
Vad only noticed the knocked over flowers as he stopped basically throwing his furniture around.  
He sank to his knees right before the flowers. They were completly destroyed due to his rage.  
His knuckles were raw and red, blood seeping from the places where the skin broke.  
Vlad's vision blurred as tears filled his eyes, looking at the destroyed flowers and his destroyed knuckles.  
He really wasn't thinking rational anymore. He slowly got to his feet again, only one thing in mind.  
It had been a matter of time until his destructive urges turned against himself.  
Vlad paced towards a shelf at the back of his living room.  
Once he reached that shelf, he proceeded to pull a small box from atop it.  
Vlad had only recently replaced the contents of this box, so he was sure to find everything he needed inside of it.  
He sat down in front of the shelf and opened the box.  
The first things in it were sterile gauze bandages and compresses. Beneath these were butterfly bandages and disinfectant.  
And finally, once he had laid these items out in front of him, he took out the last thing inside the box.  
It was a slightly smaller box.  
Inside it were razor blades.  
Vlad took his shirt off, showing the scars that covered mostly both of his arms and a few, seemingly random, scars on his lower stomach.  
The shirt would be used to soak up the blood that would be running down his arms. Later, after it, the shirt would be thrown away.  
Vlad unwrapped one of the razor blades and took it to his arm without a thought, a motion done a hundred times, again and again, pure reflex by now.  
He tugged the blade slowly across his skin, drawing red, so so red, blood out.  
By the time he finished, there were six precise cuts spread across his arm.  
He tended to the cuts, all bleeding, but none of them gaping open.  
The amount of blood Vlad lost would probably be quite worrying to other people, but not to him.  
Granted, it was some time since he last cut (it had been a month, which was a really long time for Vlad), but he was still used to the blood loss.  
As he finished bandaging the cuts, he did not think. He never did during these „sessions“.  
It was necessary for Vlad to be calm and precise. Otherwise he couldn't cope.  
The pain throbbing in his arm would keep him calm for a while.  
Vlad cleaned up, leaving no trace as to what he'd done except for the bandage around his right arm and his bloody knuckles.

 

It was wednesday again. A week since Vlad had left Danny standing at the gate. Vlad had been highly irritable over the last three days. That left to five controllers being thrown against a wall, leaving them irreparably destroyed, and four pissbabies were outright terrified of Vlad now and left the game as soon as they saw his nickname.  
Vlad shattered his sixth controller just as the doorbell rang. There weren't a lot of people that would visit Vlad. But, however, he did not consider it being Danny, since that the boy had appeared in his garden the last times.  
And, dear Vlad thought that the chance of his visitor being Danny was even smaller, with the incident at the grave and all.  
It probably would be some colleague who wanted to check up on him.

Vlad didn't even have the time to process that this was Danny standing in front of him as he opened the door and the boy slipped past him and into his house.  
For the briefest of moments, he thought about kicking Danny out of his house, but he didn't want to harm the boy even more, as that probably would have been a quite violent action.  
So, Vlad just closed the door and followed Danny into the living room.  
Vlad sighed, „Do you want something to drink, Daniel?“  
Danny shook his head, but said, „An explanation would be nice, though.“  
„An explanation, huh?“  
Vlad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He still stood in the doorway to his living room, while Danny had sat down o his couch. The man opened his eyes again and looked at Danny.  
„Okay, Daniel. The easiest explanation would be this one:  
I was the lab partner of your parents and are as such responsible for their deaths.“  
There was no heavy load falling of off Vlad's chest as he said that. It only got worse.  
Danny just stared at Vlad.  
Both did neither move nor talk for a period of time that felt like hours, but was probably more like minutes.  
Everything felt like it had been frozen in place and time after Vlad's confession.  
Finally, Danny moved.  
He stood up and went towards the door.  
Because Vlad was still standing there, the man moved out of the way to let Danny go.  
However, Vlad did not expect Danny to do what he did.  
Danny hugged him.  
Vlad was utterly speechless. Why did Danny hug him?  
He basically just fucking confessed killing the boy's parents!  
But Danny did not let go. He started talking.  
„Vlad, I know what happened, they told me what happened. It's not your fault, trust me.“  
After Danny finished, he let go of Vlad, looked at him once more, smiling, and left.  
Vlad watched the boy leave.

 

Vlad thought a lot about Danny in the next week.  
Even the boy said that the accident wasn't Vlads fault.  
Every fucking one said that.  
But how would they know? They hadn't been there!  
Before Danny, Vlad had just ignored those people.  
But the boy's words had stuck.  
„It's not your fault.“  
Not his fault, yeah, right, Vlad thought, as the third controller of the day met the wall.  
In the past week, he had been banned from playing multiple games online, which has led to the current Devil May Cry-Session, lasting 35 hours and counting at the moment.  
Vlad only played so obsessed to escape his own thoughts, particularily to not think about Danny.  
Although, that was not working.  
„IT IS MY FUCKING FAULT!“, Vlad screamed at his TV-Screen as he failed the final boss again.  
This time, Vlad threw the controller right into his screen.  
But, durng the current train of thought, that was of little importance.  
All that was on his mind was Danny.  
Danny and his cornflower-blue eyes.  
Danny and his fucking smile after he told Vlad that it wasnt his fault.  
It was his damn fault, why did nobody understand that?  
Sighing, Vlad got up.  
He had to get dressed, since now he had to go out and get a new television.  
Ordering one always took so long.  
Vlad really preferred getting one himself.  
Once he reached the electronics store, Vlad realised that he propably should have waited.  
Because, shit, Danny was here.  
Maybe, just maybe, the boy hadn't seen Vlad yet?  
But, as soon as Vlad thought about that, Danny turned around and looked saw Vlad.  
Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!  
That was like the worst thing that could happen today. Well, except Danny chose to talk to Vlad.  
Which, of course, the boy seemed to want to, as he walked towards the older man.  
Vlad tried his best to mentally prepare himself, however, that wasnt working so well.  
His tought were mainly like this: „SHIT, what the hell am i going to say to him? Fuck! Fuck!“  
And he was supposed to be the mature one.  
He was short of freaking out.  
„Hey.“, Danny said as he approached Vlad.  
„Hey.“, Vlad replied, still having a mental breakdown.  
„What are you doing here? I mean, I didn't expect to see you here... You don't seem like the guy one would encounter in a normal store...“, Danny continued, rubbing his neck and looking sheepishly away from Vlad.  
„Well, yeah, I kind of need a new TV...“, Vlad answered, looking at the ground, „Why are you here?“  
„Oh, I'm just getting a gift for a friend.“, Danny replied.  
Vlads thoughts went roughly like this: Holy shit, this is so goddamn awkward.  
But, Dannys thought were similiar, although Vlad did nit know that.  
Danny tried his hardest to stay cool, He even led back, to look extra cool.  
However, that did not work out as planned.  
The shelf wasn't as stable as Danny thought it would be.  
The next thing Danny could see was Vlad. Looking down on him, worried.  
„Badger, are you okay?“  
Danny didn't even understand that he was being asked a question.  
He just stared up at Vlad, a dumbfounded expression on his face.  
Neither of them noticced the shop assisstant approaching.  
As he started talking, Vlad just shot him a quick look and started nodding along with whatever was being said.  
Vlad was to busy with making sure that Danny wasn't hurt.  
Danny was still shocked enough that he didn't realize that he was supposed to take the hand that was offered to him by Vlad.  
A moment later, Vlad decided that it would be faster if he just grabbed Danny and set him back on his feet.  
Danny got visibly more confused as Vlad actually did that.  
The shop assisstant was still talking.  
Vlad got steadily more annoyed, so he just shot an incredibly angry look at the person and spat out a „Yes.“  
The poor assisstant was quick with apologizing and led them to a register.  
And finally, Vlad understood what the shop assisstant wanted him to do. He had to pay for the damage done by Daniel.  
Vlad sighed and took out his credit card, payed for the damage and led Danny out of the store.  
The older man took a deep breath before he faced Danny and started talking.  
„Daniel, that was incredibly stupid of you! Imagine what could have happened to you!  
You stupid, stupid boy! Be fucking glad the only damage was done to these damn things you knocked over! Please just take fucking care of yourself! You are so damn stupid! We even met because of a fucking stupid thing! Who on this damned earth even steals fucking flowers?  
It's just.. argh! You are just a fucking stubid, stubborn boy! Why am I even putting up with you?“,  
Vlads voice got increasingly louder during this rant, until it was short of screaming.  
The man didn't even notice that Danny got increasingly more upset during this rant too.  
Vlad just turned around and left Danny alone, standing in front of a electronics store.  
Danny started to softly cry as he watched Vlad leave.

 

Danny went to Vlad's on the following wednesday. Seeing as it seemingly was the day on which Vlad was at home.  
The boy tried the front door first, ringing the bell. Vlad did not open the door.  
Maybe he just hadnt heard the doorbell ring?  
Danny decided to try a different way.  
He went around the house and entered the garden, as he had done on so many previous occasions.  
A look into the living room later and Danny knew that Vlad wasnt there. Danny really hoped that Vlad was there somewhere? Although he wasnt sure... Vlad has always been there the past wednesdays.  
Why wasnt he now?  
Danny started knocking on the patio door, hoping for a response.  
Several minutes and more knocking later, Vlad still hadnt shown up.  
Either the man wasnt here or he was ignoring Danny.  
Danny didnt know which was worse.  
He decide to hang a bit around, looking at the flowers, deciding which ones his parents would get today.  
When Vlad still didnt show after what felt like an eternity, Danny just took some flowers and left.  
And no, that werent tears in the corners of his eyes because he couldnt stop thinking about the possibility of Vlad ignoring him.

Vlad, meanwhile, was at work. Again. Finally. After a month of abscence.  
They had given him an assistant, an intern, to work through all of the stuff that the Fentons and Vlad had been researching before the accident.  
It was hard to read through all these files, them leading up to this accident that cost two people their lives.  
Vlad was really exhausted. Looking at those files took more out of him than he had imagined.  
(He remembered what his therapist had told him, „Mr.Masters, I think you should go back to work. It will help you.“) Right now it just made Vlad incredibly exhausted, constantly being reminded of the accident and everything and why did that fucking intern look like Daniel?  
As if Vlad didnt think enough about that boy already.  
Every damn time he looked at that intern, he was reminded of that stupid boy which he mde an orphan. And everything in this stupid lab reminded him of the accident through which that happened.  
It was too much for Vlad. He had to get out of here.  
His Intern/Assistant looked worried after Vlad as the man stormed out of the lab.

 

Vlad wasn't sure about this. But since the little badger hadn't shown up for the past week, as he was usually pretty persistent, it was quite worrying and thinking about how he had just left him in front of that store... It worried Vlad a bit. So he had decided to go visit the badger at home, once he got off work.  
Of course, Vlad knew where the badger lived.  
But he wasn't prepared for what he was about to learn.  
A young woman, propably around eighteen opened the door. She looked weary, large dark circles under her eyes, pale skin and she looked like she hasnt eaten properly in days.  
„You must be Jazz, right? Danny's sister?“, Vlad asked.  
The girl just nodded, not even looking into Vlad's eyes.  
„Is Danny here?“  
This time the girl looked straight into Vlad's eyes, tears slowly filling hers.  
She started to talk with a calm steady voice, not fitting the emotions on her face.  
„You're the guy my brother told me about, aren't you? Vlad?“, the girl didn't even pause to give Vlad time to reply. She disappeared for a short while inside the house, leaving a confused Vlad on the doorstep. Shortly after, she appeared again, holding a letter in her hand.  
She shoved the letter at Vlad, who grew more and more confused.  
„Here, just take this and go. Go away, leave me alone, before I die too.“  
She closed the door behind her this time, as she vanished within the house.  
Before I die... too?  
Vlad was puzzled at these words. He took a look at the letter he was holding.  
His name was written on it.  
Vlad decided to read it here and now, since it was seemingly written by Danny and Jazz didn't seem to want to let Vlad into the house.  
He opened the letter and started reading.  
'Hey Vlad,  
when you are reading this, I'm not really around anymore.  
I just couldn't be anymore. I mean, it was all just too much.  
You understand?  
I just- i couldn't do it anymore.  
With school, my parents, everything coming crushing down around me-  
I'm so sorry.  
I know you offered to listen, to help, but im already enough of a burden to my wannabe therapist sister. I really didn't want to burden you too.  
Seeing as you already have enough to worry about.  
So I just, kind of, decided, to take myself out of the picture, to take the easy way out.  
Im so, so sorry, but I couldn't see another way...  
Please, forgive me.  
Maybe we'll see each other on the other side?

Danny

P.S.: I think I fell in love with you.'

Vlad clutched the paper, tears rollig down his cheeks.  
It's purpose was absolutley clear.  
A suicide note.  
And, judging Jazz' behaviour, Danny had gone through with it.  
That stupid little badger.  
That stupid boy.  
Vlad didn't realize that he had started walking until he already was halfway home again.  
Still holding tightly onto the letter.  
The only thing he would have left of that stupid young boy, the boy that meant more to him than anything else. Even more than his damn flowers.  
Once he reached his home, Vlad had to resist the urge to break everything inside, to release his anger over Dannys premature death, his fucking suicide.  
Vlad did exactly two things.  
He ripped out every last cornflower in his garden, throwing them away, except one, which he left to dry.  
He cut exactly *well, insert times vlad had met danny* times into his skin, one cut for each time he had met Danny.  
The tears dried.  
The flowers didn't regrow.  
The cuts left scars.  
Once the remaining cornflower was dried, he put it into a frame with Danny's suicide note, hanging it on the wall.  
Vlad went on with his life, but more bitter and dry than he had ever been.  
Nobody got past his shell, he locked everyone out.  
In fear of hurting them.

Eventually, Vlad died, alone, of old age, looking at the suicide note of a boy that had passed away decades ago, thinking of things that never had the chance to be.  
The last words to leave Vlad's lips were these: „I think I fell in love with you too, little badger.“


End file.
